Product and Process Design I

Wednesday week 1 – review questions

Product and Process Design I

Review question 1.
a. Fill in the table on the next slide for France, the United
States, and your country. In case you are a national of one
of the countries mentioned, choose another country.

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Review question 1.
Aspects France United States India

Portion size * Smaller Smaller Smaller

Eating time Longer Shorter Shorter

(duration?) *
Variety of foods More verities Less Verities More Verities
consumed *
Eating Highly important Less Important Less Important
sociality/conversation
Degree of snacking Low High Low
and snacking
opportunities
Freshness and taste Highly important Less Important Less Important
(vs. shelf life) as
priorities
Pleasure vs. worry Pleasure Worry Worry
orientation to food
Walk or bicycle vs. Walk Car Bike/Car/public transport
car orientation
Moderation vs. Moderation Excess Moderation
excess/abundance
ideology
Focus on quality vs. Quality Quality Depends
quantity
Joy/pleasure vs. Pleasure Comfort Pleasure
comfort

* During breakfast 3
Product and Process Design I

Review question 1.
b. Are there similarities and/or differences between your
culture and the others?
More similarities of portion sizes ,verities of food are
more in France and India but USA has less selection
option ,eating conversation is less important in India
and USA ,but having high values of conservation
,India most of the people use bikes and Car for travel
than walking

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Product and Process Design I

Review question 2.
a. Go to: https://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html
Fill in the following table with the values of each dimension for France,
United States and your country.

Cultural France United States India

dimensions
Power distance 68 40 77
Individualism 71 91 48
Masculinity 43 62 56
Uncertainty 86 46 40
avoidance
Long term 63 26 51
orientation
Indulgence 48 68 26

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Product and Process Design I

Review question 2.

b. Go to: https://geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html

Read about the six cultural dimensions and briefly explain each of
them.
POWER DISTANCE
This dimension expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a
society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The fundamental
issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people.
People in societies exhibiting a large degree of Power Distance accept a
hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further
justification. In societies with low Power Distance, people strive to equalise the
distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power.

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Individualism:

The high side of this dimension, called Individualism, can be defined as a

preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to
take care of only themselves and their immediate families.
Its opposite, Collectivism, represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in
society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular
ingroup to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.
Masculinity:
The Masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for
achievement, heroism, assertiveness, and material rewards for success. Society at
large is more competitive. Its opposite, Femininity, stands for a preference for
cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. Society at large is
more consensus-oriented.
In the business context Masculinity versus Femininity is sometimes also related to
as “tough versus tender” cultures.
The Uncertainty Avoidance:
The Uncertainty Avoidance dimension expresses the degree to which the
members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. The
fundamental issue here is how a society deals with the fact that the future can
never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen?
Countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour,
and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. Weak UAI societies
maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles.

LONG TERM ORIENTATION

Every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the
challenges of the present and the future. Societies prioritize these two existential
goals differently.
Societies who score low on this dimension, for example, prefer to maintain time-
honoured traditions and norms while viewing societal change with suspicion.
Those with a culture which scores high, on the other hand, take a more pragmatic
approach: they encourage thrift and efforts in modern education as a way to prepare
for the future.
In the business context, this dimension is referred to as “(short-term) normative
versus (long-term) pragmatic” (PRA). In the academic environment, the terminology
Monumentalism versus Flexhumility is sometimes also used.
Indulgence:-
Indulgence stands for a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic
and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun. Restraint
stands for a society that suppresses gratification of needs and regulates it by
means of strict social norms.
Product and Process Design I

Review question 2.
c. Give examples of how the cultural dimensions may explain the
similarities/differences mentioned in question 1.

India having less Indulgence and more control of desires to

control the food and snaking habits
Individualism is very high in USA leads to More snacks and
fast foods but in India it is less and controllable leads to
controllable snacks and fast food habits
Masculinity is more than in US

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Product and Process Design I

Review question 3.
Which are the implications and challenges of cultural differences for
developing new products?

Implication :- India has largest cultural hub for the world ,it has
diverse culture in the different parts of India
Challenges ,India having various states and having different values
and food cultures ,some parts of India likes Vegetarian, some part
of Indian people likes meat products ,east costal people likes
seafoods ,center part of India like wheat and rice food ,North India
people likes only wheat breads ,south India food habits are rice
…tremendous challenges in terms of cultural differences ,of course
India is second largest consumers in the world ….

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